The "dry" spell has finally been broken—in part because of the knowledge shared by local fly fishers, Karen Gebhardt and Greg Neubauer, and in part due to the persistence of a few women anglers trying different flies and retrieving techniques. We have finally caught trout on the Guadalupe River. Of course, this was for those lucky enough to get there by Friday. The release was at an all-time TWFF outing low: 97 cfs, very pleasant and fishable.

Karen and Greg shared their experiences and insights with us at the Mullet Mixer on Friday evening, and Mary Rohrer provided maps for everyone to note the best locations for fishing. In addition to their presentations and the wonderful assortment of food and beverages, we welcomed Kyle Hand, our guest artist and feature fly tier for the weekend. For display, Kyle brought a generous supply of materials and equipment and a beautiful assortment of his famous North Atlantic salmon flies, along with some Texas bass flies, which he tied from vintage pattern descriptions.

Kyle Hand joined our outing at my request. I met him at a Glen Rose casting clinic last August, and I was hopeful he wouldn’t mind teaching us a few things. Kyle and his wife, Sue, drove down from Fort Worth for their first visit to the Guadalupe River and the Texas Hill Country. They both had an enjoyable time: Sue studying for her RN degree, and Kyle doing what he loves to do best. Kyle and Sue are both very generous people, and we benefited from their kindness.

Our Casting for Recovery® fundraiser happened in the form of a raffle at the Mullet Mixer. Three prizes were displayed, each with its own bucket for raffle tickets. The first was a solid oak storage box with hinged lid and felt-lined drawers that was admired by many. In keeping with the trout fishing/fly tying weekend theme, another prize was an Orvis book about reading trout streams, coupled with a Sportsman's Finest grab bag of fly tying materials. The other coveted prize, donated by Greg and Gretchen Neubauer, was a pair of GRTU guest passes for a day of fishing the exclusive GRTU sites. The twenty-plus people in attendance purchased enough tickets to send us well on our way to meeting our CFR goal for this year. You all made this the second highest fundraiser in our history with $410. Outstanding!

With extremely wet weather arriving late Friday night, we were fortunate to have made alternative plans. Saturday morning, the river was chocolate brown with debris floating perilously down stream. The storms that had come through sent some of our members packing and heading home, while others we had expected didn’t make it at all. The next weather threat was the announcement of an arctic front spreading slowly from north Texas and heading our way. A few folks tried to fish, but they were chased back inside by lightening, so we tied flies. Kyle instructed us on the finer points of tying wooly buggers, micro jigs, dry flies, nymphs, and foam bugs. We spent a full day in the Summit clubhouse with our materials and tying tools, and beginners as well as experienced fly tiers all enjoyed a great time.

Later Saturday evening, we had dinner and our annual membership meeting. We scheduled outings for the balance of the year, and several members volunteered to coordinate them. Check the TWFF Web site for details of all our 2007 outings. Even though we couldn’t fish on Saturday, we still had a wonderful outing enjoying each other’s company. For more pictures of this outing, check out the TWFF picture album.